An Incharacter representative said the company didn't know the term "squaw," which is believed to be derived from the Algonquian word for woman, has come to be considered demeaning and offensive by many Indians.

timujin:So... if they were marketing Little Black Sambo costumes, would it be alright as long as they weren't marketing them to black people?

Little Black Sambo is a good book. Have you even read it? Yes, it's racist. But it's not derogatory. Have you read any books from those eras? Racism was less looked down on and more scientific fact. The Indian was a different species with queer customs and admirable savage nobility. But then again, so was the Frenchman.

doglover:timujin: So... if they were marketing Little Black Sambo costumes, would it be alright as long as they weren't marketing them to black people?

Little Black Sambo is a good book. Have you even read it? Yes, it's racist. But it's not derogatory. Have you read any books from those eras? Racism was less looked down on and more scientific fact. The Indian was a different species with queer customs and admirable savage nobility. But then again, so was the Frenchman.

The acceptability of racism in 1899 versus now also has no bearing on the conversation. Whether or not you find the book to be good is irrelevant. It is, as you say, racist and therefore inappropriate for use as a child's Halloween costume.

log_jammin:An Incharacter representative said the company didn't know the term "squaw," which is believed to be derived from the Algonquian word for woman, has come to be considered demeaning and offensive by many Indians.

timujin:The acceptability of racism in 1899 versus now also has no bearing on the conversation. Whether or not you find the book to be good is irrelevant. It is, as you say, racist and therefore inappropriate for use as a child's Halloween costume.

As long as people can be silenced and controlled with political correctness, that's all that matters to you, right?Look at Calbert's pic, nothing wrong with that costume, change the name on the package and move on.If it had been called "Warrior Princess", nothing would have been said./try not to piss your pants before the day ends.//oops, too late

Kurmudgeon:timujin: The acceptability of racism in 1899 versus now also has no bearing on the conversation. Whether or not you find the book to be good is irrelevant. It is, as you say, racist and therefore inappropriate for use as a child's Halloween costume.

As long as people can be silenced and controlled with political correctness, that's all that matters to you, right?Look at Calbert's pic, nothing wrong with that costume, change the name on the package and move on.If it had been called "Warrior Princess", nothing would have been said./try not to piss your pants before the day ends.//oops, too late

log_jammin:An Incharacter representative said the company didn't know the term "squaw," which is believed to be derived from the Algonquian word for woman, has come to be considered demeaning and offensive by many Indians.

uh.....

In the American Southwest, they don't refer to themselves as Native Americans, but Native Indian or American Indian, or sometimes just Indian. To call them "Americans" at all is more derogatory than Indian.

I am outraged...outraged..that they have a "Cracker Jack" costume. I Demand one million dollars from the United Italian Negro Fund to ease the suffer to my sensibilities that this vile piece of cloth has done to me.

log_jammin:An Incharacter representative said the company didn't know the term "squaw," which is believed to be derived from the Algonquian word for woman, has come to be considered demeaning and offensive by many Indians.

uh.....

"I have no problem with the costume. I find it very offensive that you want a refund for the costume when it states no refunds after October 20th. That is not policy and I cannot give it to you."

I knew a girl once whose boyfriend gave her this necklace with an arrow as the charm on it (the arrow pointed downward). People kept asking her what it was, and she would tell them it was for the American Indian Movement, until one day she said:

I'm quite interested in etymology, but have no high level training. I've long hand an opinion on the evolution of this word, but first I checked wikipedia, which strengthened my hypothesis:"Squaw is an English language loan-word, used as a noun or adjective, whose present meaning is an indigenous woman of North America. It is derived from the eastern Algonquian morpheme meaning 'woman' that appears in numerous Algonquian languages variously spelled squa, skwa, esqua, sqeh, skwe, que, kwa, ikwe, exkwew, xkwe, etc. At present, the term is often held to be offensive, though controversy surrounds the historical evidence claimed for such a view."

I presume in the original language, it meant woman, without any other particular connotation. Then bigoted whites used the term in a pejorative way, generally meaning "whore", projecting their own desires and prejudices into the words. And thus the word was sullied, but not in polite company. So for most or all of the time since, the word has had a literal meaning (neutral) and a prurient connotation known to a minority of people.

My comment on the above, which is probably accurate: Why not merely restore the literal meaning, and disavow the pejorative connotation? One reason for this is the lack of a viable alternative: Who out there knows an "acceptable" indian word for "woman".

That is what is called a "Pious Fraud", a lie in the service of what is perceived to be the correct. The idea that "squaw=coont" originated in the 1970's, and wasn't widely accepted until it was repeated on the Oprah Winfrey show.